Given the atrocious Defense UT is currently suffering, I think Boom & Smart will be the top 2 candidates due to their DC resume lines. What other defense-first HC candidate is available & would consider jumping to Austin?

Boom’s actually the logical guy, Senator. He was the DC and since he left that is what needs fixing. Plus, he was HC in Waiting meaning they previously decided he was good enough to be their HC. Can anybody blame him for getting tired of waiting for Mac to retire? Maybe he saw the decline in recruiting/team management under Mac and left so he wouldn’t get tarnished. Can’t blame him for that either. He’s coming off an 11 win season at FU, a program comparable to UT in the eyes of most Texas alums. The bigger question is would he take the UT job if offered–I’m saying “yes.”

Okay, but can we start the ” my second cousin saw Mrs. Saban is house-hunting is Austin last week” meme?

Actually, Texas is a very good school and a lot of their alums think of themselves more like Stanford than being similar to an Alabama. I could see Southern Cal going after Saban before Texas would. Of course we could stir the pot by saying Mack Brown is sending Greg Robinson and Manny Diaz to Tennessee in an even trade for John Jancek and Willie Two-thumbs.

Texas will probably look for a head coach who has had proven success in a tough league and a prior history of maintaining standards on the recruiting trail and in-house discipline. A coach who puts players into the NFL. A coach who might be wondering what he could accomplish if he had an employer who was willing to keep pace on the spending front in the facilities and assistant coach arms race.

As bad as things are for them and Brown, it is not inconceivable that he survives this and they are not looking for a coach. Despite the fact that there is almost no support for him among fans, I would not assume that he gets pushed out. I imagine most of the influential alumni probably are smart enough to conclude that he is unlikely to ever win an an elite level ever again, but I am far from convinced that they do anything about it. Remember this is a group that only fired coaches historically when it became totally untenable.

Ultimately, I think the type of candidate they hire will depend on who the person doing the hiring is. The rumor that Deloss Dodds was stepping down at the end of the year was refuted by Texas SID. So if it is Dodds, don’t expect an “edgy” hire. Look at who Dodds has hired since Akers. David McWilliams from Tx Tech, John Mackovic from Illinois, and Mack Brown from UNC. Despite the fact that UNC had gone 11-1 and amassed a bit of talent at the time, Mack Brown was a hack back then. That he “won” at Texas was not some miraculous feat. When you think of championship coaches at any level, do you really think of Mack Brown???? Of course not. His career arc is defined by massively underachieving during Stoopes peak, coinciding his coaching apex with OU’s decline, and then entering a mailaise for which he appears to have never escaped.

Honestly, if you were thinking about who fits the profile of their hires, the quintessential person that comes to mind is Mark Richt. Please don’t mistake this for me suggesting that it will happen, that I want it to happen, etc. I am just suggesting that that is the kind of hire they have made in the past.

Where they go from there is anyone’s guess? If I were them, there is one man I would hire. Bobby Petrino. Of course, he is the exact opposite of what they look for…..

In terms of other candidates, the popular suggestion is Briles, but if I am Texas, I would stay as far away from spread/air raid coaching trees as much as possible. Programs that can amass top tier talent don’t need gimmick offenses.

As for the rest of the names that will get tossed around…here is my $0.02

Shaw- the notion that he is “proven” is absurd. was Larry Coker proven 2001 and 2002? He inherited a great culture and a very good situation at Stanford. That said, talk to me after this season. They play more “losable” games this season than they did in his first two seasons combined. Arizona St and UCLA are clearly in better places than they have been. Washington appears to have their act together to get past 7 wins this season. They won’t beat Oregon again in 2013. He is an AWESOME person from what I understand, but he is not proven. That said, culturally, he would be a great fit, but for the fact that he is a Stanford alum. My guess is this is one of the jobs he might consider, but it is hard to know.

Saban – forget about it

Peterson – maybe, I guess it depends on whether he ultimately wants to get back to the West Coast. USC would be the more obvious landing spot for that reason, but if he likes smaller towns, Austin would seem a better fit than LA, but who knows. I have to believe that sooner or later he is going to listen to an offer to leave Boise.

Patterson – not sure there is still a bloom on his rose.

Briles – maybe, but again, if I am texas, I would NOT assume that his system is the best fit to leverage the talent advantage that one can build

Strong – I can’t imagine him not taking the job if offered. It is a HUGE upgrade.

Golden – did wonders at Temple. hard to evaluate what he has done at Miami given the circumstances. Has an edge to him, but he seems to carry himself with a LOT of class. for me the challenge is I don’t think one can project a guy who can take a nothing program and take them to 8-3 equates to taking an elite program to 11-1/12-0. Not saying it can’t be done. saban and miles are great examples of guys who did just that.

If the D does not improve dramatically over the course of this season, then he may suddenly “resign” for “personal” reasons at the end of the year. If that happens look for Muschamp to beg Mark Richt for the DC job so he will finally be able to win one in J’ville (LOL).

What about Frank Solich? Do you think Nebraska would like to have him back after the debacle Saturday? Not sure he would want to get back in the pressure cooker of a Texas, but he is a solid coach with a proven track record.

Lots of great mentions here but I heard a commentator this weekend that said Texas was it’s own worst enemy when it came to picking a coach. They said Texas would never take a Baylor coach, it was beneath them. Likewise Hell would freeze over before Texas would even consider the A&M coach. I think they make a run at Muschamp, the fans liked him and their D was not an embarrassment. He was the lover scorned by the evil father-in-law Brown.
That coupled with Muschamps ability to take a team with zero offense and win has got to have them excited.

I would be FLAT OUT SHOCKED if Muschamp was offered and even more shocked if he accepted. While the notion that his leaving was understandable to Texas because he got a near equal job whereas the timetable around “in waiting” was undetermined, I can’t imagine they would go back in that direction.

His goal was to get a premier job. He got one. How many guys have ever left a premier job for another college head coaching job? Johnny Majors leaving Pitt for UT. Jackie Sherrill leaving Pitt for A&M. Bill Curry leaving Bama. I honestly can think of others.

Further, unless he thinks he is going to catch heat in Gainesville, why would he leave? If he is catching “heat” by the end of the season, UT think “whew, good thing we dodged a bullet in hiring Muschamp,” and not “wow the UF people are angry with Muschamp for going 0-3 against UGA. I am sure he will do fine against OU”

“How many guys left a premier job for another college head coaching job?” Let’s see…Bear Bryant left A&M to go to Kentucky then left Kentucky (after winning an SEC title there) to go to Bama; more recently (and more comically) Lane Kiffin left UT to go to USC; Urban Meyer left FU to go to tOSU (with a year off in between for BS reasons); Les Miles went from Okie State to LSU;…I’m sure I could think of more but that’s enough. P.S. Wait and see. Muschump will get a Texas offer. He might not take it but he will be offered it.

Look at this chart. Mack Brown sits at #41 on that list. If you accept that Texas will not hire a) an assistant or a head coach that just started a new job this year, b) a coach from a Texas school or a mid-major program, or c) a coach with a worse overall winning percentage than Mack Brown, then you are left with only a handful of choices. If you narrow it down by who is highly unlikely to leave their current position for Texas, you can eliminate Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer, Brian Kelly, Steve Spurrier, Bill Snyder, and Frank Beamer.

I would write off Miles, Whittingham, and Swinney right off the bat. With the OSU stuff out there (whether any of it sticks I don’t think matters), I don’t see Gundy getting the gig, and if you are going to hire OSU’s coach, why not look at Baylor, A&M, or TCU’s coach? They are at least equally esteemed programs at this point. So, the question really becomes would these guys leave their current situations for the Texas opportunity?

Petersen – seems genuinely content where he is
Shaw – depends on what Stanford does this year
Fisher – at least one more year with Jameis Winston in the always winnable ACC, but Texa$
Richt – see Petersen
Saban – has marquee team in marquee conference and gets all the recruits/facilities/coaches he wants now. I don’t think he could care any less about money. Money is not part of his process, and Alabama would try to match anything up to a stratospheric offer (they would be stupid not to).
Mora – doesn’t fit Texas mold, but what if UCLA has a magical season and wins the Pac 12? NFL ties (shaky as they may be), a successful rejuvenation project at a moribund Pac 12 school, and a (hypothetical) conference title over Oregon and Stanford?
Muschamp – He left once, but that just shows he was smart. Take Florida job or wait forever while Mack Brown reaps the rewards off your work? A near lock to take an offer if Florida loses in Jax again
O’Brien – He just lost to UCF at home.

I think you are realistically looking at a Muschamp, Shaw, Fisher target list. They should definitely offer Texa$ contracts to Saban, Richt, and Petersen first, but if none of them take it, you have to think Muschamp is the frontrunner out of those three unless Florida absolutely tanks this year.

UT is custom made for Saban. Texas is ‘Bama on roids, bigger talent base than Bammer, just as much power in the Statehouse, the same type brand recognition, richer boostersand it’s own TV network. That all adds up to mo’ money, mo’ money mo’ money!

Bloviation for the Dawgnation

Quote Of The Day

“I didn’t know I got criticism,” Richt quipped, feigning incredulousness. “It’s just the nature of the beast. If you can’t take criticism, then you shouldn’t coach.” -- AJ-C, 7/21/15